What is the consequence of saying that faith is belief and confession?
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, those who say that faith is belief, does this phrase or this definition undermine the faith of the one who said it? And what is the consequence of saying that faith is belief? Likewise, what is the consequence of the one who says that faith is belief and confession?
Answer:
The consequence is the negation of deeds, and that sins do not harm. Sins do not harm and do not diminish faith. This is what follows from the doctrine of the Murji'ah: that sins do not harm a person, and even if he did what he did, it would not harm him as long as he is confessing or believing in his heart. And the Murji'ah are sects, not one single sect. Some of them say that faith is knowledge, as al-Jahm ibn Safwan says. This is the most dangerous of the opinions. This is disbelief. This is disbelief, because Pharaoh knew in the depths of his soul; he knew. So Moses said to him:[Al-Isra 17:102] except the Lord of the heavens and the earth, so he knows in his heart. If so, he would be a believer, and Pharaoh would be a believer because he knows in his heart. The disbelievers, Allah the Exalted says: [Al-An'am 6:33] They know that the Messenger is truthful. So this means that they would be believers according to the doctrine of al-Jahm ibn Safwan, may Allah disfigure him. This is the most dangerous type of the doctrine of the Murji'ah.
And some of them say that faith is belief, not merely knowledge, but belief with the heart, and confession and deeds are not required. This is the saying of the Asha'irah, and this is a false saying without doubt, a false saying, but it is not like the doctrine of al-Jahm.
Some of them say that faith is merely the verbal declaration, even if one does not believe it in one's heart. This is the view of the Karramiyyah, and it is an invalid view, because the hypocrites say it with their tongues, and Allah has ruled that they are[An-Nisa 4:145]. The meaning of this is that they are believers.
And the mildest of them is the one who says that faith is belief in the heart and utterance with the tongue. This is the mildest type of the Murji'ah, but they all share in not caring about deeds. They all share in this, but some are milder than others. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, those who say that faith is belief, does this phrase or this definition undermine the faith of the one who said it? And what is the consequence of saying that faith is belief? Likewise, what is the consequence of the one who says that faith is belief and confession?
Answer:
The consequence is the negation of deeds, and that sins do not harm. Sins do not harm and do not diminish faith. This is what follows from the doctrine of the Murji'ah: that sins do not harm a person, and even if he did what he did, it would not harm him as long as he is confessing or believing in his heart. And the Murji'ah are sects, not one single sect. Some of them say that faith is knowledge, as al-Jahm ibn Safwan says. This is the most dangerous of the opinions. This is disbelief. This is disbelief, because Pharaoh knew in the depths of his soul; he knew. So Moses said to him:
You have already known that none has sent down these
لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا أَنزَلَ هَٰؤُلَاءِAnd indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject.
فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَAnd some of them say that faith is belief, not merely knowledge, but belief with the heart, and confession and deeds are not required. This is the saying of the Asha'irah, and this is a false saying without doubt, a false saying, but it is not like the doctrine of al-Jahm.
Some of them say that faith is merely the verbal declaration, even if one does not believe it in one's heart. This is the view of the Karramiyyah, and it is an invalid view, because the hypocrites say it with their tongues, and Allah has ruled that they are
in the lowest depths of the Fire
فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِAnd the mildest of them is the one who says that faith is belief in the heart and utterance with the tongue. This is the mildest type of the Murji'ah, but they all share in not caring about deeds. They all share in this, but some are milder than others. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [524 -1024] ما هو الأثر الذي يترتب على القول بأن الإيمان هو التصديق والإقرار؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.